Perfect Love

A big huzzah to our very own Heather Davis, whose amazingly romantic YA novel, The Clearing, is a contender for the prestigious and coveted 2011 RITA award. As you might have already heard, Heather is giving away a fabulous prize package and all you have to do is comment on this or any (or all) of our posts this week to be entered to win. To read more about the prize, click HERE.

When Heather suggested we write about an elder who has in some way influenced or inspired us, I admit I had a hard time coming up with just one. I finally decided on my maternal grandmother, Mama Billie. The reason is two fold.

One, she helps me put things in perspective. For example, one day I was really upset because my brand-new dishwasher wasn't working. (I don't know about you, but doesn't it seem odd that the dishwasher and washing machine your grandma bought twenty years ago still work just fine and these new ones last fewer than three years!?!) I was seriously about to cry, and all it took was her saying in this angelic voice, "Isn't it wonderful that we live in a time where we have dishwashers?" She didn't launch into a "when I was a girl we had to walk 20 miles to school in a blizzard, uphill both ways" monologue. No, it was just a simple sentence that brought me out of my tirade and into peaceful, even thankful, waters.

The other thing I find so inspiring about Mama Billie is she loves people unconditionally. Now, to put this in perspective, a) She's a Southern lady, who as you might know, usually have very strong opinions about ... well, everything (haha!) and b) My family is WEIRD. Sorry, there's no other way of saying it. As a whole, we are about as imperfect as they come. I'm talking the stuff of Reality TV. And yet she loves each and every one of us as if we are perfect. So when I'm frustrated with people, I remember Mama Billie and it helps me forgive them their imperfections and love them.

Now it's YOUR turn! Who in your life has a knack for getting you off the ledge and putting things into perspective? Comment because I know you want to win Heather's fabulous prize package, the winner of which will be announced on Sunday.

The Clearing Giveaway Week!

So, you may have heard that my book The Clearing is nominated for the RITA award for Best YA Romance this year.  I couldn't be happier to see this little book get recognition from an organization I've been a part of for nearly a decade.  The ceremony will be in NYC on July 1st, and I'm already getting a little nervous. 

This week on BooksBoysBuzz, we're celebrating the nomination with stories about special elder people in our lives.  In The Clearing, Amy has moved in with her Aunt Mae in the country.  Aunt Mae's home is anything but glamorous -- it's a double-wide trailer.  The special part of Amy living there is the kindness that Aunt Mae shows her.  She tells Amy that she doesn't need a boy to tell her how special she is, that she should know that she is special already.   And then, of course, Amy meets Henry Briggs, the one boy who realizes how beautiful and amazing Amy really is.  The only problem is, of course, that he's living in the endless summer of 1944.

How did the character of Aunt Mae come to life?  I've always been close to the older people in my family.  From my grandmas to my great aunts, there were always elders who offered my father advice on raising us kids and shared their perspectives on life with us.  To date, all of my books have an older secondary character in them.  There's no way that's a coincidence!

 For those of you who haven't seen the field that inspired The Clearing, here it is in this photo from my old hometown in the North Cascades.  That's Rinker Ridge in the background, and the red barn belongs to my old neighbors, The Dellingers.  When the bad weather would come in, the barn would disappear in a curtain of mist.  One day I began to wonder if it was still there, if it really still existed when I couldn't see it, and what might be in its place if it didn't.  Pretty deep thoughts for me, right?  I imagined a family, trapped in the 1940's living behind that curtain of mist -- and Henry Briggs was born.  The Clearing ended up being the book of my heart.  It's so gratifying to get letters from readers who connected with Amy and her journey and wished for a Henry Briggs of their own. 

So, how about the giveaway?

Comment each day to be entered to win The Clearing Farmhouse Prize Pack:

Signed Copy of The Clearing
Assorted Fine Teas
Briggs Family Biscuit Recipe
Biscuit Cutters
Cool Fortune-Tellers Tea Cup

We'll draw a winner on Sunday, June 19th from all the daily comments.  US and Canada winners only.  No purchase necessary to win, of course!

Today's question:

Who has been the most influential older person in your life so far?

 Good luck!

Heather
www.heatherdavisbooks.com
The Clearing - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Wherever You Go - Harcourt (Nov. 2011)
Sometimes by Moonlight: A Novella - eBook
Never Cry Werewolf - HarperTeen

Rita, Purina, and Romantic Times

First off, let me join in on the buzz and congrats for Bee Heather on her fabulous Rita Award nomination for her book, THE CLEARING. I adored this book from the second I started reading it and knew it was something special. So proud of Heather and wish her luck at the awards ceremony!



Secondly, I've entered a little contest of my own. My fiance, Patrick Burns, and I have done a video application to be Purina's first Cat Chow Correspondents. Check it out and leave a comment for us, if you will.



Thirdly, I'm getting ready to join everyone out in Los Angeles for the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention where they're featuring teen reads. There's going to be a huge Teen day with book signings and speed reading "dates" with teen authors, as well as panels, discussions, giveaways, and more. My awesome publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has donated a ton of not only my GHOST HUNTRESS series, but also Heather's Rita nominated THE CLEARING. So exciting! And, I'm doing a ghost hunting basket giveaway including my series, my how-to book, some basic ghost hunting equipment and more fun stuff.

To celebrate all the good things going on, I'm going to give away an advanced copy of my upcoming May release, GHOST HUNTRESS: THE DISCOVERY.



Just leave a comment here in the trail or on my YouTube video, to be entered to win. I'll announce the winner next Wednesday.

Hugs,
Marley = )

www.marleygibson.com
www.ghosthuntress.com

Ghosts don't hang up their sheets after Halloween!
GHOST HUNTRESS series - The Awakening, The Guidance,
The Reason, The Counseling - available now!

YA Romances, How We Adore Thee

You might have already heard but if not, it's my great pleasure to announce that our own Buzz Girl Heather Davis's The Clearing has been nominated for the prestigious RITA award which is given by the Romance Writers of America at their national conference each summer. (Read Donna's post below for more info.) This is an epic accomplishment and we'll be celebrating all week long right here.

Since The Clearing is a YA romance (and if you haven't read it yet, you're in for a treat once you do) I thought I'd talk about what we all love about YA romances, whether realistic or paranoramal or sci fi or whatever you like to read.

Here's what my agent, Christina Hogrebe, has to say about what makes YA romance so fun to read: "[It captures the] intense feelings of awkwardness that surround all of the firsts. ... It's messy and embarrassing and scary and irrisistible."

I couldn't have said it better myself. I adore a story where awkwardness reigns, and where there's an exciting mystique to the beautiful ordeal of falling in love. Where the ending of the emotional trip isn't necessarily a wedding or even a desire to get married (as it oftentimes is in "adult" romances), but a new level of understanding and self-acceptance--a golden piece of the puzzle of life.

Here are some quotes I found that nicely portray teen love:

"Once in a while, right in the middle of ordinary life, love gives us a fairytale." ~ Author unknown

"There is a time for risky love. There is a time for extravagant gestures. There is a time to pour out your affections on one you love. And when the time comes, seize it, don't miss it." ~ Max Lucado

What do YOU like most about YA romances in general and the romance in The Clearing in particular?

Remember me? Recap of RWA Nationals and the Hectic Summah of 2010

Hey Buzz Readers!

Remember me? I'm the Bee who's been AWOL pretty much all summer. Sorry about that. In addition to traveling the country for conferences and booksignings in my RV, my boyfriend and I have also had his two boys (11 and 9) with us the entire summer and we've had a major adventure!

We started in New York City, worked our way over to Michigan and the U.P. and then a long stint in the north woods of Wisconsin with their grandparents, a visit to Mt. Olympus water park in the Wisconsin Dells, a five-day conference in Hohenwald, TN investigating several haunted locations, selling books, and doing lectures, and then down to Orlando, Florida, for the 30th Annual Romance Writers of America Conference.

Are you tired just reading all of that?

But, I'm back and I want to share some of my pics from RWA.

It was great seeing my fellow Buzz girls Tina, Steph, Wendy, and Tera, and we very much missed having Heather and Dona in our ranks.

As Tina has reported, we had a lovely dinner at Shula's (and yes, I was horrified that people don't know who Don Shula is...not just the winningest coach of all time in the NFL, but also the father of former Bama quarterback and coach, Mike Shula. LOL!) and the food was absolutely delicious, as seen here by my plate of food. What was I thinking ordering a 16 ounce steak?



I did a panel with my non-fiction editor, Rose Hilliard, from St. Martin's Press, and buddy, Louisa Edwards on "Creating a Symbiotic Editor-Author Relationship."



And here I am with Rose at the St. Martin's party on the Disney Boardwalk.



Met some famous ladies on my trip...

The fabulous Heather Graham, who can sing "Bobby MaGee" like no one's business and is also into ghosts and SCUBA diving.



The ever-amazing Suz Brockmann, fellow New Englander.



And WOW...THE Meg Cabot, queen of YA. She's a total doll and so very nice.



And here's our very own former Buzz girl, Simone Elkeles, and her brand new friend, Rita...for Best YA! So proud of Simone!



Of course...time cutting up with Buzz girl Wendy...



Hanging with fabu YA author (and critique partner), Jenn Echols...



Fellow Knight Agency sistah and YA author who sat next to me at the Literacy Signing, Linda Gerber...



And, with my sweetie, fellow author, Patrick Burns...



Despite coming home with a severe cold and sinus infection, it was a great conference and I loved every minute I spent with the Buzz Girls!

Hugs,
Marley = )

Oh, Yeah, I Do Have Some News...

The ever-lovely Stephanie Hale “outed” me on Friday as having good news to share today. I teased her a little in her comments about not knowing what she was talking about...but the truth is, yeah, I do have some news.

Last Thursday, the Romance Writers of America Rita® award finalists were announced, and I was lucky enough to get a call.

Here’s the list of 2010 Finalists for Best Young Adult Romance:

Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog
Don’t Judge a Girl by her Cover by Ally Carter
Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro
Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick

I am thrilled to be included with such talented authors! And must of course give a special shout-out to Simone Elkeles who was one of the first Buzz Girls, and will always remain one at heart!

The ceremony is being held at the national conference on July 31 in Nashville, TN...and I do believe all Buzz Girls will be in attendance. So I’m thinking pictures, pictures and more pictures. And lots of fun!

I hope we see some our readers there, too!

Tina

Tina Ferraro
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, 2010 Rita® Finalist
How to Hook a Hottie, 2009 Rita® Finalist
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
www.tinaferraro.com

A Busy Bee Returns

As you might have guessed from my oh-so-long absence, it's been a wild summer. I've spent most of it in travel, hitting America from coast-to-coast. (Literally. I've been from New York to California and most places in between.)

But I'm back. Well, my brain might not be entirely back, but I'm working on it. As part of my re-entry program, I want to share with you some photo highlights from my trip. Enjoy!

First, my parents and I drove cross-country from Oklahoma City to Las Vegas in a mini caravan...


...then I flew home to Houston to do a few book signings for the release of Goddess Boot Camp.


Next, I flew back to Las Vegas...


...and took in some shows.


After a brief stopover at home, I flew to Washington, DC, for the RWA national conference, where I won the RITA award for Best First Book. (Omigod, squeeeee!!!)


With RITA by my side, I took the train to New York, where I did not go to the Met, because it's summer, people, and there are like billions of tourists in the city. (I walked down Fifth Avenue to the Frick instead. Much better.)


After that I flew back to Vegas for the last week of my parents' summer program (the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas), which was about stage makeup.


Then, after many more grueling hours of driving (in which I listened to the Taking of Pelham One Two Three by John Godey--amazing) I finally made it back home to house, where my apartment complex was a different color than when I left.


So that's it. My summer life in pictures. Hopefully by next week my brain will have returned in full and I'll be able to write a real post.

Hugs,
TLC

OH. MY. GODS. (now in paperback!)
GODDESS BOOT CAMP (out now!)
Get your goddess on. Join the Ning!

More from DC!

Steph did a fantastic job of sharing the RITA news on Sunday, but I thought I'd give a couple more behind-the-scenes glimpses.

Here are Rosemary, Tera and me at the Golden Heart/Rita Reception, after Golden Heart finalist (and our friend) Vanessa Barnevelt told us to yell out "Rita!"



And here, another picture taken by her, in the last row of the Rita seating, just moments before the program began.



Next year's conference is in Nashville--hometown of country music. What else do we know about Nashville? Shout it out and let's get the BUZZ started for 2010!

Good Luck, Good News, Good Grief!

I wanted to send my love, hugs, best wishes, and cheers to fellow Buzz Girls, Tera and Tina for the Rita Awards this week in Washington, DC. Even though I can't be there, I'm with you gals in spirit and I hope there's a tie and they have to give you each a pretty golden trophy.



I have some awesome news to share! My wonderful editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has signed me on to do TWO more titles in the GHOST HUNTRESS series, bringing the total number of books to five! I couldn't be happier!!! I'm hard at work finishing up Book 3 - GHOST HUNTRESS: THE REASON and can't wait to come up with ideas for books #4 and #5!



I've been on the go since June 17th, traveling around, doing conferences, selling books, doing signings, seeing friends and family. It's been exhausting, but exhilarating at the same time. I've been able to spend some down time at the beach and I got to parasail (wow!) and go waverunning with dolphins (double wow!) and snorkel and just enjoy the summer sun. But there's work to be done. As I said, I have to turn in Book 3, start promoting Book 2 and also start promoting my non-fiction book THE OTHER SIDE: A TEEN'S GUIDE TO GHOST HUNTING AND THE PARANORMAL, as well as my other non-fiction book CHRISTMAS MIRACLES. I'm headed to Baton Rouge, LA this weekend for the BabelCon Conference and then will be headed back to Boston to regroup.



To anyone going to the RWA National Conference in DC, have a great time!!

Hugs,
Marley = )

Off to DC...

Many of you know that Buzz Girl Tera Lynn Childs and I have had our books, Oh.My.Gods and How to Hook a Hottie, nominated by the Romance Writers of America for Best Young Adult Book at their annual conference/RITA award ceremony this upcoming week.

It's been a crazy few days for me, for in and around shopping, planning and packing for the trip to Washington, D.C., real life, of course, reared its head with various highs and lows which included rushing my 89 year-old aunt to the ER in an ambulance (she's fine now) and celebrating my birthday with a dinner out, my first iPod, and the SWEET news that my husband got me upgrades on my flights.

So I thought you'd like to see a picture of me, taken just moments ago:


Okay, obviously kidding, but that's how I feel!

I'd also like to mention how happy Tera and I are to be in the company the lovely and talented Rosemary Clement-Moore, whose book, Hell Week is the third nominee in the Young Adult category.

And to let our readers know that the winners will be posted rather instantaneously on www.rwanational.org (you may need to find the site's exact page). The award ceremony is Saturday, July 18 at 8 pm EST.

And meanwhile, any advice on the actual award ceremony is appreciated! Keep the heels low so I can walk? Don't drink too much water beforehand? Bring speech notes on an index card? What say you?

Some of My Best Friends are RITA Winners

Okay, maybe the title of this post should be "Some of My Favorite Authors are RITA Winners" but whatever. Semantics.

As Steph and Tina have pointed out, Tina, Rosemary Clement-Moore and I have been nominated in the Best Young Adult of RWA's RITA contest. (And I've been nominated for Best First Book, too, but that's not really relevant at the moment.) Just look at the wonderful company Tina, Rosemary and I are keeping with some of the past RITA winners who also happen to be some of my favorite writers.

• Karen Marie Moning (2001 Best Paranormal Romance for The Highlander's Touch)
• Rachel Gibson (2002 Best Contemporary Single Title for True Confessions)
• Jennifer Crusie (2005 Best Contemporary Single Title for Bet Me)
• Alesia Holliday (2006 Best Romantic Novella for "The Naked Truth About Guys")
• Kresley Cole (2007 Best Paranormal Romance for A Hunger Like No Other)
• Julia Quinn (2007 Best Long Historical Romance for On the Way To the Wedding and 2008 Best Regency Historical Romance for The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever)
• Caridad Ferrar (2007 Best Contemporary Single Title for Adios To My Old Life)
• Melissa Marr (2008 Best Young Adult for Wicked Lovely)
• J.R. Ward (2008 Best Paranormal Romance for Lover Revealed)

I'll be happy no matter who wins, because no matter what another one of my favorite writers is going to be added to that list. =) Yay us, girlfriends!

Your assignment, Buzzers, is to tell me your favorite author/book and what award you would give them if somebody let you totally make up awards. Like I would give E. Lockhart's Fly on the Wall the Best Book That Actually Made Me Want To Read Kafka award. Okay, your turn.

Hugs,
TLC

OH. MY. GODS. (available now!)
GODDESS BOOT CAMP (coming June 2009)
teralynnchilds.com